Turkish MP: Just settlement to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a national issue for Turkey

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Armenia President Serzh Sargsyan in Washington a couple of days ago. Will Turkey’s position undergo any changes in terms of normalization of relations with Armenia following this meeting?

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan made fundamental conditions, which imply withdrawal of Armenian forces from all occupied Azerbaijani territories, for the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations clear to Armenian president at the meeting. No dramatic political changes in South Caucasus region are possible until Nagorno-Karabakh region is de-occupied.

Turkey, as they say, is playing with cards on the table, because our position is based on international law, a need for implementation of four UN resolutions on the occupied Azerbaijani territories and increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the OSCE Minsk Group. Turkey appreciates the peacekeeping mission of OSCE Minsk Group, and will continue to support its efforts towards peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Last year Turkey did much to support the work of the OSCE Minsk Group. At the same time, there is no doubt that Turkish parliament will not ratify the Armenian-Turkish protocols until Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is restored. Capture of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia is a glaring injustice which should be eliminated. In general, I note that at a meeting with President Sargsyan, Erdogan voiced the same position and principles which he declared from the rostrum of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan.

Some people in Turkey claim that the government is not averse to open border with Armenia without involving settlement of the Karabakh conflict in this process. It is persistence of Armenians in the issue of so-called "genocide” that prevents this...

A settlement of the Karabakh conflict is a national issue of the Turkish state. Unfortunately, some political forces in Turkey strive to make political struggle out of this problem with their baseless and false accusations against the AKP which in its turn harms settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

We have repeatedly told our political opponents that liberation of all Azerbaijani territories is the strategic direction of the state policy of Turkey and Azerbaijan. There can be no alternative to this. An attempt to speculate on this issue in order to achieve some kind of domestic dividends is not acceptable at all.
 
It should be noted some media outlets in Azerbaijan were also engaged in this dishonest game. Some newspapers and television channels voiced completely unfounded accusations against the AKP. This campaign is still going on though Prime Minister and the President of Turkey made it clear that relations with Armenia will not be restored without the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh.

This month, U.S. President Barack Obama will make his annual speech devoted to the events of 1915. Last year, Obama did not use the word "genocide". The U.S. Congress Committee adopted a resolution recognizing the “Armenia genocide" in early March. To what extent will this fact impact position of the American president in evaluating the 1915 events?

Interesting enough, Barack Obama is the most knowledgeable of "genocide" among all the U.S. presidents. We know that he carefully studied the history of the events of 1915 in the last 6-7 months. Perhaps, American administration studied all the details of this issue for the first time.

Thanks to Erdogan’s policy, Washington understood essence of aggressive activities of Armenia, which, under the buzz around the far-fetched "the genocide of 1915, committed real genocide in Khojaly and occupied 20% of Azerbaijani territory. I think that now Washington knows that whom international law supports in this regard.

Armenia says it will not compromise in the issue of Karabakh and “genocide”…

Turkish government coordinated all Armenia-related activities with Azerbaijan from the very beginning. This policy aimed at restoring Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, opening communication and establishing stability and building trust in the South Caucasus.

Erdogan government continues this policy to this day through both bilateral meetings and within the format of OSCE Minsk Group. However, Turkey should not be expected to address all problems in the region.

Settlement of the Karabakh conflict is a very complex process which requires much effort. The position of Azerbaijan and Turkey are very strong in this matter. Sooner or later, the Armenian authorities will realize in what a difficult situation they have ended up.

Lately Turkish media reported that Ankara is going to negotiate with the Armenian Diaspora in Europe and US…

The Armenian Diaspora has a very negative attitude towards Turkey. The dialogue between Turkey and the Armenian diaspora is quite possible and would be very helpful. Discussions are underway on this issue in Turkey at the moment.


/Day.Az/